Felix, Miller-Uibo and Francis to clash over 400m in Eugene – IAAF Diamond League

The winners of the three most recent outdoor global 400m titles will clash over one lap of the track at the Prefontaine Classic, an IAAF Diamond League meeting, on 25-26 May.

World champion Phyllis Francis will take on Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo and 2015 world champion Allyson Felix, as well as world indoor champion Courtney Okolo.

Felix owns 25 major medals, 17 of which are gold. After winning three world titles at 200m, she struck Olympic gold at that distance in 2012 before going on to win the world 400m title in 2015.

After finishing second to Felix at the 2015 World Championships, Miller-Uibo gained revenge to win the Olympic title in 2016. The Bahamian has started her 2018 by equalling the world indoor 300m best and winning the Commonwealth 200m title.

Felix and Miller-Uibo are the only athletes to have earned Diamond Trophies for both the 200m and 400m in the same year. This will be their first ever 400m clash outside of a major championships.

Francis produced one of the biggest surprises of the IAAF World Championships London 2017 to win the 400m in a PB of 49.92, finishing ahead of Felix and Miller-Uibo.

Okolo, part of the USA’s gold medal-winning 4x400m team at the 2016 Olympics, won the world indoor title earlier this year with an indoor PB of 50.55 and went on to pick up another gold medal in the 4x400m.

Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser earned a surprise silver medal at last year’s World Championships, finishing ahead of Felix and Miller-Uibo. She ended her 2017 season by clocking a lifetime best of 49.88, breaking her own national senior record and Asian U20 record.

Shakima Wimbley, a training partner of Miller-Uibo, earned silver at the recent World Indoor Championships and has already set a PB of 50.18 this year. Jamaica’s 2013 world bronze medallist Stephenie Ann McPherson is also in the field.